Salaries rise as law firms look toward business development
Partners at the top ten law firms lost nearly £1m each in fees during the economic downturn.
In 2008, partners were billing average annual fees of £3.3m. But by the end of 2009, this figure had fallen to £2.4m as firms lost much of their City and banking work, and clients demanded cost reductions, according to recruitment specialists Ambition.
Consequently, law firms are hiring business development managers, client relationship specialists and marketing support staff to boost their businesses—in London, the number of business development vacancies has risen 54% in the last 12 months.
The extra demand for these types of candidates has driven up salaries in the last 12 months, and senior business development managers have seen their salaries return to pre-recession levels of about £75,000, with US and top five firms paying an average of £82,000. During the economic downturn, salaries fell 16% to about £63,000.
Tim Gilbert, UK managing director of Ambition, says: “In 2009 there was a very gloomy outlook for non-fee earners within the legal sector. But many law firms have identified the need
